


Death Doesn't Discriminate Between the Sinners and the Saints.

by BroadwayBaggins



Category: Mercy Street (TV)
Genre: American Civil War, F/M, Gen, Relationship Advice, disguises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-09-23 23:59:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9689261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BroadwayBaggins/pseuds/BroadwayBaggins
Summary: Jed and Private Aimes share one last conversation. Contains spoilers for episode 2x04, "Southern Mercy."





	

Jed knows he should not follow her. The wounded men that Miss Green and the chaplain brought in are a far more pressing matter than Miss Aimes and her situation, and he knows he should just let her walk away. She is not wounded in any way that he can aid her with–her troubles are rooted in heartbreak, and she clearly does not wish to linger here any longer. Better to focus on his work and forget about the strange, resourceful girl who managed to fool an entire regiment, not to mention her best friend.

But in spite of himself, Jed calls out to Samuel to help bring the men in and takes off down the street after her. It will only take a moment, he promises himself. One moment with her and he will return, but he must speak to her first…

“Private Aimes!” he calls, jogging to catch up to her when he spots her with her rifle slung over her shoulder.. The street is mostly deserted, but he does not dare give her secret away where someone might overhear. She flinches at the sound of her name, perhaps expecting to turn around and see Jed standing with a full court martial assembled behind him, but she turns around to face him anyway. She holds her head up high, the perfect picture of a dutiful soldier, but now that Jed knows the truth he can see the youthful roundness of her cheeks, the length of her eyelashes, the way her mouth is set in a hard line to keep herself from crying, and he wonders just how he could have been so blind to the facts that were right in front of him.

Perhaps Lisette was right. Perhaps he has changed.

“Doc? What’s the matter? Is Danny okay?” her voice catches just a little as she approaches him, not bothering to disguise the true timbre of her voice any longer.

“He is resting. His condition hasn’t changed, but I’m hopeful that he may begin to improve, in time.”

She nods, biting her lip. “Then why are you here? I’ve got to get going if I’m going to meet my regiment by nightfall.”

“Miss Aimes…” he begins. “Camilla. Are you sure about this? You don’t have to–”

“Yes, I do,” she cuts him off, her voice hard and cold as iron. “I still have a family to look after. I still made a promise to myself, and I intend to see that through.”

He clenches his jaw for a moment, then nods. Like another Yankee he knows, she will not be swayed from her convictions.“You will be careful?” he asks. She is hardly the first to go to battle in the aftermath of heartbreak, and that can make anyone reckless. If she decides she has nothing else to live for…

_She is so young. She’s only at the beginning_.

“Yes, sir.”

“I hear the fighting is moving towards Maryland.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I have family there, and friends. If you find yourself in trouble, if you need a place to stay, seek them out.” He tells her where she can find his family plantation, wishing he could do more to help her. More than anything, he wishes Mary could have been there. She, like Lisette, would have figured out Camilla’s secret, and she would know exactly what to do now. “They will help you, if they can. You will not be alone.”

That does it–her lip begins to tremble, and she looks down. “I am alone,” she whispers. “Danny was all I had.”

“He may yet come around.” _If he survives._

“You didn’t see his face. He hates me.”

“People can surprise you.”

“I never should have said nothing,” she argues, tightening her grip on the gun. “I’ve spoiled everything.”

“Mademoiselle Beaufort was right. You would have regretted keeping the truth from him any longer.”

“How do you know what I would have done?”

Jed sighs. “You would have regretted leaving him without saying goodbye, at any rate. So many people here would give anything for such an opportunity.” His mind jumps to Mary, looking so small on the dock of that riverboat, and he shakes the thought away.

She looks up at him then. She looks more lost than ever, and at that moment Jed swears he could shake that boy of hers for making her feel so wretched. “What do I do now?”

He has to think for a moment before he answers her, thinking of a woman miles away from him now, lost to him but not forever, wondering what she would say to this wounded girl in front of him. “You keep going,” he says finally. “Even when life doesn’t go the way you expect. You find a way to keep going. We keep living anyway. We keep _loving_ anyway. No matter how he feels about you lying to him, what you felt for that boy was real. Let that be what keeps you going, if it’s what you need. Stay alive–if not for him, then for yourself, for your family. Be smart, and be safe. That’s all any of us can do. But…” he pauses a moment, wondering if he’s overstepping his bounds. Mary, he knows, would not care. “But don’t give up hope. Not yet. You never know when you can get a second chance.”

“Have you ever gotten a second chance, Doctor Foster?”

He smiles faintly. “I think so.”

She takes a deep, shaky breath, and looks over her shoulder. “I’d best be going,” she whispers, but she sounds more reluctant now.

“Do you have everything you need? Supplies, money?”

“I’ll be all right. I always seem to land on my feet.” She straightens her shoulders and gives him a salute, her disguise slipping back on easily again, the vulnerability that she dared to show him fading as quick as a blink. “Thank you, Doctor Foster.”

“Be safe, Camilla.”

He knows he should get back to the hospital. But he watches her walk away until he can see her no longer.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, what an episode, guys!! While I loved all of it (particularly Emma and Henry) I was really taken with Camilla and her story and hope we haven't seen the last of her! I wrote this very quickly after only seeing the episode once, so please forgive any errors (I'm sure there are many!) Title comes from "Wait For It" from Hamilton.


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